Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Reflection of 2008

As I'm ready to bid 2008 goodbye, there are a few things I remember 2008 for.

The good things

1) Got into NUS after praying and praying... Love that school!
2) Got my 1st laptop - Vaio!
3) Changed CG to W472
4) Rising up in CG
5) Baptized Mon in the HS! - 1st time!
6) Gave my 1st Bible study and subsequently many more
7) Co-hosted for a subzone event - breakthrough!
8) Earned a substantial income @ AIA which sustains me now
9) 1st attachment at St. Luke's Hospital
10) Got out of a relationship
11) Performed for Asia Conference and DBS @  Shangri-la
12) Obtained a Merit for Grade 5 piano exam
13) Distinction for Grade 5 music theory
14) Bridesmaid for Jeff kor's wedding
15) Lost weight!!! (Whether's it's fats or muscle mass, I don't know. =x)

As you can see I did a lot of 1sts on my 21st, so 2008 IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

And now...

The not-so-good things

1) Cello is still stagnant.
2) Results for 1st Sem is not up to expectation.
3) Only at Grade 6 for piano cos my teacher doesn't want her students to skip any! Maybe it's good...?
4) Got into a relationship
5) Haven't gotten my driving license or taken BASIC theory even... Product of procrastination.
6) My not-so-little brother got into trouble!

And hmmm...

I am stuck. I'm sure there're many not-so-good things which happened! But I can't remember.........

Sooo this is my 2008. =) Not exactly very WOW... Humble beginning! Haha.

Greater things are still to be done.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Unafraid
What's ahead
You are always there before (me)

I feel my life is a teeny bit in danger now but I'm not scared. Come what may yea.

Some people are afraid of death, some are afraid of living. However, when we are convicted that God is IN control, there's really nothing to be afraid of.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6

Just 2 verses down...

And the LORD, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

Isn't that so assuring? I know I can put my trust in God because His promises never fail me. :')

Monday, December 29, 2008

 

When the stage is bare tonight
There's no one else
Just You and me

Christmas is over, the fanfare is through. It is back to the stillness of my room, back to my first love.

When the curtains close behind
There's no pretense
I'm on my knees

Behind closed door, I show Him my weaknesses, I tell Him my fears. He knows me and watches as I cry myself to sleep.

I will lay down my life
For the love sacrifice You gave to me

For the first time last night, this sentence hit me as I laid on my bed singing. I guess I've been self-centered for too long, it's time to look beyond the little dear life that I live.

 

..... .... ... .. .

 

I'M LOVING MY HOLIDAYS!!!

Not that I did anything special, but with my free time, my love for music grew! I'm practising the piano and CELLO even more now! (Mini breakthrough to even practise cello... =X) And I'm choosing classical music over other genres to listen to... I don't know what happened inside me Haha.

Music is supposed to come freely out of you and I felt kinda suppressed before holidays so it was awful. Sometimes it was demoralizing to even play anything.... So I didn't.

How I wish I can just focus on music...

My ultimate ultimate childhood dream is still very very much alive. That is to be a performing pianist above all else. And I hope I can live long enough to fulfill that dream.

Talking about dreams! Last night I dreamt that  a baby shark bit my hand twice!!! (Ultimate random dream...)

HAHA...

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Awww... Have been seeing my beloved Cai on Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing day!

Stayed over her place on the Eve and we stayed up till 4am! We were lying on her couches and talking... Instead of saying a sweet "Goodnight", we said "Shut up" and fell asleep. Haha... My best friend indeed.

And so we woke up at 9am on Christmas Day and had breakfast with her family. SO happy for her!!! Cos her whole family went to church for service! =)

And on Boxing day... I went over to her place again and we went CYCLING. From Chinese Garden, through Jurong East to Bukit Batok Nature Park and BACK. HAHA. Our butts hurt like crazy now HAHA.

Reached her place at 9pm and had dinner... After that we sang some praise and worship songs and she taught me how to lead! So cool.

My perfect date! =)

She's simply AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best friend forever!!! Lol...

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Woo Hoo.... It's CHRISTMAS EVE!

I'm glad the year is ending and the ending is definitely better than the beginning HAHA. Christmas is also a harbinger to a new year and many greater things ahead. Cool~

I'll be doing a reflection of 2008 and goal setting for 2009 with my connect group this weekend. Nice! Though a lot of things which happened in 2008 seem very distant now, due to my bad memory? Haha.

Anyway, went for service just now! It was great! The drama was super funny and happy that 2 of my friends from school joined me too!

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Was writing some cards last night, am I disorganized? Haha, I love stickers! I still buy them if I see cute ones like the colourful hearts!!!

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Many many people for service! =)

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Candle lights! 

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My 2 friends! Your future nurses. A whole new generation of us is rising up, taking the hospitals by storm. Lol... 

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She's so cute! Like a doll hahaha.

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"Have yourself.... A merry little Christmas....." =X

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Bearer of light in a world of darkness.

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I LOVE THIS GIRL!!! My beloved Cai~ =) The one who brought me to church, whom I kept rejecting, yet she kept asking. Hehe. So touched now that I think back... =')

Happy Christmas!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

(Written last night...)

Wow today was awesome. Finally had a taste of HOLIDAY...

Went to school to submit some stuff and then headed down to Marina Square to look around for gifts but didn't buy any in the end... Think I'm bad in buying gifts haha. Anyway I'll try again tmr. Last minute Christmas shopping!

Headed down to Esplanade library after that. FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! I miss that place. Used to frequent there... Anyway I brought along a book to read and was listening to Yo-yo Ma. Haha. Trying to get some motivation for cello...

Btw the CDs there now have a special cover which can be locked and unlocked. So to unlock it we have to go to the counter and give your IC no and handphone no. TROUBLESOME.

It used to be that we could just take whatever CDs we wanted and listened within the library. BUT I'd have guessed that people without integrity have stolen a lot of CDs to cause the library to have such measures now. IRRITATING.

And so I read...

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And read...

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AND READ...

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Can you see my reflection? =) Haha

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Until Steph came...

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And we went down for an outdoor performance while the cool wind blew! =)!

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Romantic? HAHA!

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Bumped into beloved Cai too! =)!

It was simply an awesome day cos I got to spend time alone Haha...

(^;^)v

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Wow, guess what?

I woke up at 2pm!!!!!!!

Latest ever in 2008... 2 weeks of attachment has certainly taken a whole lot of me and the 10.5 hours of sleep was a luxury. No dreams or anything, just a total shut down of my body! Cool...

Glad that attachment has ended and holiday has begun!!! FINALLY! I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =) It spells meeting up with friends, chilling and catching up with my piano and cello practices! LOVING IT!!!!

Anyway! If you haven't seen me in my nus nurse uniform and can't possibly imagine............ Here are some pics...

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Lobby and entrance of St Luke's. Bad shot cos I was rushing to reach on time. Haha.

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We worked in the SAME ward! So our shifts were alternate. And AHEM! She was the finalist for NEWFACE 2008!!! Top 20! SO COOL RIGHT... Some guys were already asking me about her when they saw this pic in Facebook. Tsk tsk! HAHAHA...

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Us with my clinical preceptor from Philippines.

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2 others from another ward

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All the nurses in my ward... This was taken after work and I always changed immediately cos I felt more relieved? Haha. Look at them! They were always so happy working! Never once did I see them with a grumpy face.

And see, I'm the only Singaporean. Hoping that more will join me in the nursing adventure!!!! It's something not to be missed in this lifetime!!! =P

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They had a Christmas party and potluck. We ate and ate... And ate. Cos they cooked nice stuff. This pic is kinda small but again, all are foreigners except for the 4 of us in white. Sigh...

Really quite disheartened... Anyway, I'll try my best to recruit more people? hahaha. But if it's not your calling then it's better not to.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Oh hehehehhehehhehe.

2 more dear days at St. Luke's HAHA!

I'm so happy recently... I don't really know why exactly but I think it has something to do with being a nurse???

I am loving it!!!!!

But not the waking up at 6am part... HAHA... I love the patients there, they are SO CUTE....... SO SO! LOL... Though they are very very much advanced in age, but they are so child-like in many ways.

I wanna improve in my Mandarin and dialect!!!!!! After 7 days, I can communicate better haha. But still, I don't know how to express a lot of words...

A patient was quite funny, made me laughed out loud haha! She's a Malay woman with dementia and I always like to tease her for fun haha! Today she told me she wanted a boyfriend... And asked me to find TWO for myself... Tsk tsk. LOL... She's 80+ already haha.

I talked to another patient too. She is 90, very frail and kept telling me that she was going to die cos her relatives have been visiting her. She thinks too much I think. Hmmm...

Hope my last 2 days will be good. As much as I like it, I can't wait to leave and have my (well-deserved) holiday haha...

I NEED A BREAK............................

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

A Day in the Hospital

 

3 more days to end of attachment. YESSS....... I can see it coming...........

Well, something interesting happened today. As my ward doesn't have any patient with Nasogastric tube (NGT), my clinical instructor brought me to another ward to witness a NGT feeding.

Later at night I was to do it myself. She showed me to the patient's bed, it was screened cos other nurses were helping him with stuff. So we waited outside.

When they were done and curtains were drawn, me and my friend were kinda appalled by what we saw. 1/4 of the patient's head was gone, so it was like a huge dent in the head. He was also contractile and kept making grunting noises.

Anyway, he became my guinea pig, quite a big challenge considering it was my first time feeding through a tube. SO what happened was... When I opened the cap at the mouth of the tube, some of the stomach's hydrochloric acid splattered on my dear face.

Ewww... I was traumatized for a while. I could SMELL it and felt a slight burning sensation in my eye but thank God it didn't go into my eyes but near it only.

Well, the procedure still had to go on! It was just mild acid so nothing to fuss over... While pouring the liquid food (something like beige-coloured milk) into the tube, the patient made a relatively loud grunt. My heart jumped cos I was so focused on pouring those stuff and there were many other things to take note of at the same time...

Phew. Thank God the feeding was done smoothly. :) It took about half an hour? After that I had to daze for a while to collect back myself hahaha.

Does it sound like fun? Hahaha~ :)

Just came back from the hospital... Nothing dramatic enough to talk about hahaha. Just that an elderly woman asked me to marry her son HAHAHAHA.

Anyway, she's demented so it's nothing alarming. My ward has a number of patients with dementia so they say (and do) all sorts of things. Haha. They simply want our attention. And it kinda sadden me that they have little family support...

I get a tingling sensation down my legs whenever I witness an injection... Anything more my legs would probably give way??? Haha hope not. How can I work in an operating theatre next time I wonder...

Can't wait for Friday 3pm to come, then I can officially have a holiday!!! It's DECEMBER...

..... .... ... .. .

Yesterday!!! Had an impromptu meet-up with Jeff and a few ushers and we went SUNTEC!!! LOL... Been wanting to go cos I haven't been there for a LONG LONG time... So happy HAHA!

Aileen has EMERGED!

We went to play at the ARCADE!!! Lol fun! I think I was/am probably deprived. Haha... Friday friday...

Jeff passed me a thumbdrive with all his wedding photos and I dug out some more interesting ones hahaha.

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HAHA! This was when I just woke up, I was the last to wake up and we had to immediately change and stuff... Lol. The paper had some lipsticks and Jeff was supposed to guess his wife's HAha. He got it!

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This is totally classic. Like an advertisement picture for the camera!!! HAHA! I was pretty amused by Jeff's drawing, he was trying to draw an unicorn lol...

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All the jie meis + siong dis at Jeff's house with his family! For the tea ceremony... Many people!

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Meet the parent session!LOL... Kidding. Talking to his dad and godmum from HK... They are really nice and funny~

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And the couple! Ta da! =)!

I have a thing for cameramen! I think they are so into their own world and are kinda mysterious, solitary + sentimental hahaha.

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And recently I developed a sudden liking for SOFT TOYS and everything cute hahaha. Eww...

Not hinting. LOL...

Another reason why I can't wait for FRIDAY is cos we're gg to have our first CHRISTMAS CG! Expecting lots of fun and LAUGHTER lol...

(^;^)v

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Hi I'm still awake! So it's still Friday to me. TGIF!!! =)

Did my first afternoon shift today (1pm-9pm) and it was better than morning shift cos that starts at 7AM... WANT MY DEAR LIFE!!!

It was very peaceful at night, not the scary and eerie atmosphere the media always portrays a hospital to be.

It's my 4th day and I'm glad I'm gradually gaining confidence to deal with the patients.

Hopefully things will get more interesting next week.

..... .... ... .. .

Have been debating within myself whether or not I should actually stop playing the cello...

*sing* Where is the passion I needed the most?

I told my teacher about this... Well actually I've stopped learning for some time already but I still regard him as my teacher haha. So I always update him/whine about my cello progress and all since he taught me from scratch...

Anyway what he told me made sense... However, unless I do something about the word imparted, nothing's gonna change at the end of the day. It was very nice of him to offer me free lessons if I'm willing to continue... Quite touched actually...

But my mind's in a disarray now... Need some time to sort/iron out my thoughts...

Perhaps I just need some sleep... Then perhaps some fabulous solutions will pop up...

Haha.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

 

Today's the SECOND DAY of attachment! So far it's been great, my preceptors and fellow colleagues are nice. It was truly an eye-opener into the elderly world.

Of course there are still lots of getting-used-tos... Like familiarizing with the plethora of abbreviations used.

I was reading through the patients' (endless) records, one big stack of documents for just one patient. Every minute detail has to be accounted for!

Well, I came across this diagnosis which left me -> *???!!!*

Diagnosis: IT # S/P DHS, ARU - Now on IMC, dehydration, ? Sepsis - D TX on rocephine.

Exact words/letters written.

+ Diseases I've never known existed such as Meliodosis, Guillain Barre Syndrome?! ... Sooo... Lots of homework to do now.

St. Luke's Hospital is a community hospital where things can get really wols... Most of the patients in my ward are in their 70s and 80s. Reason for admission is mainly for rehabilitation.

Since things are wols, we have more time to interact with the patients and inevitably there are already some connectedness/bonds formed. Cos I know I'll miss them when I leave next Friday.

One thing, I don't know why I kept having homesickness while in the hospital for these 2 days... Or sometimes even when I'm away from home in other parts of Singapore. Haha unfathomable...

Oh, one of our classmates fainted this morning during a wound dressing. Was it the sight or the smell or due to low blood sugar? Not sure. A mass(ive) sms was sent to all of us to remind us to have breakfast hahaha. Will have a chance to witness a wound dressing tmr. Yay.

Everyday is unpredictable and that makes it fun. It's a tragedy that a lot of nurses are foreigners. I was the only Sgrean nurse out of 6 in my ward today. It provokes me a little but I don't know what to say about this...

Anyway...

In any way...

Where I can revamp something in the hospital... I WOULD PLAY "GREEN DAY" SONGS WHOLE DAY LONG in my ward. HAHAHA. Or at least some Christian songs.. Or the very least some soothing classical songs.... I MEAN... There should be something else in the air other than micro-organisms?!?!

Wahaha...

Must copyright my fabulous idea. Lol...

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Whee... Went out with Mr G. just now. Well, I was hungry and so we went to eat while he only drank (cos he was/is on diet or sth? Lol..) What happened was, at the end Mr G. used his debit card to pay...

AND... When the waitress returned with his card, she said "THIS IS FOR YOU..."

I LAUGHED and LAUGHED so hard (till I smudged my makeup LOL...) cos I thought it was hilarious~

THIS IS FOR YOU?! It's his in the first place??? =X Ok la I was/am so mean. It wasn't exactly very funny but at that moment it just sparked something in me hahaha.

Well, sometimes I say the stupidest thing too and people laugh, but I think it's really fine haha.

..... .... ... .. .

And I just hanged up a phone call with a friend... We went crazy and started singing OLD SCHOOL songs like

1) A1 - Like A Rose and Every Time
2) Tarzen?! Tarzen is handsome... Tarzen is strong...
3) I'm a Barbie girl in the Barbie world er er... LOL
4) Trademark - 2am
5) Beatles - Yesterday and Let It Be
6) Colin Raye - Love Me
7) The Way You Look Tonight
8) Adam Sandlers - Grow Old With You

At 1am?!?!?!  Waha... Secondary school is still the BEST!!!!! I remember we used to print lyrics and even filed them and brought it to school and sing!! Lol...

I was singing Trademark - 2am DURING a test cos I completed it early and was bored... Haha a friend came up to me and complained. =X And presently I still have the tendency to hum or sing whenever I feel like haha.

It's so me?!

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Having my first attachment later... Seriously don't know what to expect...

Monday, December 08, 2008

Haha, please ignore the previous post. Wrote that at a stressful moment when I was about to go for piano lesson and I felt very unprepared... Afraid that teacher would be angry!

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Friday was our subzone Ebuddy event so I was stressful too cos I felt unprepared for that too, and I had a few tasks to do... I printed the lyrics of the newer songs and sang my way home after lesson, afraid I'd forget the lyrics!

BUT!!! 

Piano lesson turned out not bad AND the event went well!!! The drama was SO FUNNY and Celine's performance too!!! Wow, it was a breakthrough for me to be hosting some items and being a Backup Vocalist for Amber and Shing!!! Dream come trueeeee!!!! Happy happy. =)

I was smiling to myself a lot when I reached home haha! Can't contain my joy and excitement. Lol...

(^;^)v

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N256 reunion! (2 months ago~) May be reunioning again next wed! Awww... Miss them! Hope that more people can come~~~

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Performance @ Shangri-la (Last month)

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In school! After lecture before the above performance... Lol...

12 pics suddenly to compensate for the lack of pics in my blog haha! Cos my camera's battery charger is at someone's house and the HP I'm using is not mine. So = no pics!

+ camera-shy...

Lol...

Friday, December 05, 2008

 

I'm going bonkers.

Everything that can go wrong, went wrong...

Seriously.............

2009 come quick!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

-

Ho Ho. Exam's over~~~ Wheeee~

Now I know why people use the word 'hotline'~ Recently (for a few WEEKs actually) a friend has been calling me to talk about some problems... (A lot in fact) Sooo... We'd talk till my HP turns HOT and dies...

AILEEN THE AUNTie AGONY?

I think there are a lot of people who have too much to say but no outlet, or rather they are selective over which outlet. So I'd say it's my privilege to be an outlet for people hehe. Again it comes with the responsibility of maintaining confidentiality.

Most of the stuff people talked about was mainly about relationships. With girlfriends, friends, family members... Why? Becos ultimately life is made up of relationships...No man is an ulu island right? And relationships are matters of the heart which is why people even bother talking and fussing over it.

So I'd say it's my privilege and pleasure (or rather something I do willingly) to be there for people who need a listening ear.

Of course, for myself... I have a few friends to hear my ventings too hahaha. They should know who they are lol....

=X

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

 

I woke up in SHOCK today as I thought I was late for paper when there was actually no paper......... My fear is to sleep blissfully through an exam and wake up to realize I can't take the paper anymore.

It seems like I'm the LAST person still taking exams among all my uni friends.. Having my LAST paper tmr and it's about "Ethics and Law"... LAW is the driest and boringest thing to study...

But it's an extremely important subject in the healthcare arena since life and death are in our hands. Heh heh. Treat me nice! Hahaha. Of course it's not something to be taken lightly, there're lots of responsibilities.

"Inexperience or being a learner is NO excuse." How true... It doesn't matter if you have just started for a day or a year, people's expectation from a nurse/doctor (or whatever professions) will be based on their general impression of how a GOOD nurse/doctor is supposed to be.

Well, doesn't everyone expect the best since it concerns our precious live... :)

The greatest nightmare/fear for any healthcare professional is to cause the death of someone either unintentionally/accidentally... It'd a guilt we have to carry throughout our entire life.

For example, administrating the wrong medication (You know how small/freakish/alienish/long the names can be) which can cause adverse  reactions -> death. Or fall -> pneumonia -> death. Or revealing the prognosis of a disease to an unprepared patient -> suicide.

Or many other freak accidents or mistakes...

It's daunting to just think about that... 

Really need to work in close partnership with God cos I can't do it on my own... It's the involvement of physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual strength.

And when I am weak, He is strong.